Cliff's Wine Picks

 

2013 Bedrock Wine Co. Sauvignon Blanc

2011 Elyse Zinfandel Morisoli Vineyard

2013 Babcock Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County

2015 Bedrock Wine Co. Zinfandel Schmiedt Road

Gallimard Père et Fils Champagne Grande Réserve Chardonnay

2012 Sandler Wine Company Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands

 

 

 

2013 Bedrock Wine Co. Sauvignon Blanc – $22

Direct from the winery:

First, it should be noted that despite not being a “vineyard designated” wine, the Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc is stronger than it has ever been.  The reason for this was the addition of Judge Family Vineyard to the wine—a  site so rocky that Joe Judge removed 200 tons of rock merely to make the site plantable for grapes.  Like Kick Ranch, which is 22% of the blend, the rocky site limits the vigor of the naturally robust Sauvignon Blanc grape and makes for more concentrated fruit.  Roughly 15% of the wine was done in the celebrated “cigare” barrels created by Dider Dageneau and coopered by Tonnellerie Ateleir from tight-grain and lightly toasted oak.  The remainder of the wine split its fermentation between neutral oak barrels and stainless steel.  The resulting wine is the type of Sauvignon Blanc I like to drink, interestingly textured, layered, racy and exotically perfumed.

 

The wine is a bright yellow color with a slight green tint.  The exotic nose has green apples, lemongrass, lime zest, flinty minerals, unripe pineapple and a touch of mowed grass.  This has medium body with nice acidity.  On the palate tart green apples, minerals and pineapple come through early with lemongrass coming in on the back end.  The juicy finish has good length with lime zest and a touch of mowed grass providing depth.  This is still tasting very nice but I’d probably clear out this vintage in the next year before the freshness starts to fade.  This has 14.1% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2011 Elyse Zinfandel Morisoli Vineyard – $17.31

This was another “steal” from Last Bottle wines, my favorite “flash” wine site.  If you use the provided link and sign up, you get an immediate credit and I get a credit if/when you make a purchase.  Check them out, they have awesome deals and their Marathons are always something special.

 

This wine is a blend of 87% Zinfandel, 13% combination of Alicante Bouschet, Carignane, Durif, Grand Noir, Muscat Hamburg, Négrette, Syrah, and Valdiguié.  Elyse has been making Zinfandel from the Morisoli Vineyard since 1986 and have been the only producer using these grapes since 1988.

 

The wine is a deep maroon color.  The captivating nose has brambly berries, black peppercorns, dusty minerals, scorched earth, baking spices, dark chocolate, cherries, violets and just a hint of roasted leafy herbs.  This has medium body with moderate tannins and very nice acidity.  On the palate brambly berries, baking spices and dusty minerals immediately jump out with spicy oak, black pepper and cherries coming in later.  The finish has nice length with some subtle earthiness joining a floral note and dark chocolate to add solid depth.  This is a well balanced, food friendly Zinfandel to enjoy over the remainder of the decade.  This wine has 14.4% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  (91 pts)

 

 

 

2013 Babcock Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County – $25

In this vintage, all the grapes are from Sta. Rita Hills vineyards but the wine kept the more generic Santa Barbara County designation to maintain flexibility of fruit sourcing.  After a 12 day maceration without stems the wine was fermented and aged for 18 months in stainless steel.

 

The wine is a nice ruby red color.  The satisfying nose has black cherries, raspberries, white pepper, dry underbrush, dusty minerals, Asian spices and dried wildflowers.  This has medium body with soft to moderate tannins and very nice acidity.  On the palate black cherries, raspberries, dry underbrush and minerals come through on the front end with white pepper and spices coming in later.  The finish has nice length with a dried floral note adding depth.  This is a refined, civilized style of Pinot that will pair with a wide range of foods.  This improved the more air it received.  This has 14.1% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with an agglomerated cork.  (90 pts)

 

 

 

2015 Bedrock Wine Co. Zinfandel Schmiedt Road – $31.00

This wine is a blend of 78% Kirschenmann Vineyard and 22% Katushas Vineyard.  The vineyards are across Schmiedt Road from each other, hence the wine’s name.  Both vineyards were planted in 1915 and are own-rooted in Tokay fine sandy loam.  A lot of the vineyards in Lodi are own -rooted since most of the vineyard pests don’t survive in sandy soil.

 

The wine is a light to medium ruby red color.  The very inviting nose has raspberries, dusty minerals, violets, dark chocolate, pencil shavings and cherries.  This has medium body with moderate tannins and very nice acidity.  On the palate raspberries, minerals and pencil shavings quickly grab your attention on the front end with cherries and violets coming in later.  The finish has very good length with a nice floral note providing depth.  For a zin from Lodi, this is bright and lively on your palate with no excess weight or any overbearing elements.  With the great balance, I can see this wine improving with some cellar time.  If you open this in the near term, it was considerably better the more air it received.  I really like this feminine style of zinfandel.  This wine proves two things, a zinfandel does not have to be a massive wine to be outstanding and secondly, there are world class wines being produced with grapes from Lodi.  This has 14.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  (94 pts)

 

 

 

Gallimard Père et Fils Champagne Grande Réserve Chardonnay – $25.42

This was another “steal” from Last Bottle wines, my favorite “flash” wine site.  If you use the provided link and sign up, you get an immediate credit and I get a credit if/when you make a purchase.  Check them out, they have awesome deals and their Marathons are always something special.

 

The wine is a light golden straw color with several streams of pinpoint bubbles.  The festive nose is full of tart apples, flinty minerals, yeasty bread, lemon zest and orange blossoms.  This has light to medium body with great effervescence and just a slight hint of sweetness.  On the palate tart green apples, minerals and lemon zest quickly grab hold with yeasty bread coming in later.  The finish has very nice length with a touch of orange blossom providing some additional depth.  This has great balance and tastes even better.  There is no rush on this bottle of bubbly but it’s hard to resist.  This has 12.0% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a standard Champagne cork.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2012 Sandler Wine Company Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands – $20.31

The grape sources for this wine are the Peterson and Soberanes Vineyards.  The vineyards located on opposite sides of River Road in Soledad. The clones from Peterson are Pommard 5, 667 and 828 while the Soberanes is the Pisoni selection.  The grapes were 10% whole cluster ferments and aged for 10 months in 1, 2 and 3 year old French oak.  There were 213 cases produced in this vintage.

 

The wine is a slightly hazy light to medium ruby red color.  The slightly shy nose grudgingly offers up raspberries, white pepper, earthy underbrush and a touch of baking spices.  This is barely medium body with very nice acidity and soft to moderate tannins.  This is much more open on the palate with raspberries, cherries, earthy underbrush and baking spices coming through on the front end and white pepper and violets coming in later.  The finish has very good length with earthy fruit and spices dominating.  This tastes great, I just wish the nose was a bit more open and giving.  I doubt if additional cellar time will be rewarded, so I’d open this one over the next year or two.  This has 14.6% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with an agglomerated cork.  (90 pts)

 

 

 

 

Cajun Andouille Shrimp Skillet

 

Here is a quick, easy and most importantly, very tasty dinner.  The dish can be served as is with a salad for a lighter meal or served over pasta or our preferred method, over rice.

 

2 links Andouille sausage, diced

1 whole shallot, minced

⅓ c. dry white wine, we use Sauvignon Blanc.  Avoid oaky wines, they can get a touch bitter when cooked down.

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 tsp. paprika (we prefer smoked paprika)

1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined

 

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat for 2 minutes.

Add diced sausage and cook until fat has rendered and pieces are crispy.

Reduce heat to medium and add shallot; cook until translucent, about 2 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and add wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add tomatoes and paprika and bring to a simmer.  Simmer until tomatoes start breaking down, about 2 minutes.

Add shrimp and simmer until shrimp are pink and cooked through, 3-5 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

I am a big fan of the “Flash Wine Sale” site Last Bottle.  You probably noticed some of the wines in this post were purchased from the site.  All of these wines were purchased at a big discount.  I highly recommend getting on their e-mail list.  Like most of the flash sale sites, they offer one wine per day until it sells out.  They also have a couple two-day marathons during the year.  Last Bottle is a great site to buy special wines at prices low enough to open any day of the week.

 

If you sign up using this link you will get a $10 credit that can be used on your first purchase.  I will also get a credit if you make a purchase.

 

Other than getting a credit as explained above, I have no financial interest in the site.  After you are on the list, you can also get the same credit by introducing friends to Last Bottle.

 

 

 

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Cheers!

 

 

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Notes – I use the “official” Cellar Tracker name for the wines.  I use Cellar Tracker to help manage and organize my cellar.  I highly recommend checking it out at www.cellartracker.com.  Loading you existing cellar is a lot less intimidating than it would first appear.  There is a good chance 99% of your wine is already in the system, so you generally only need to enter part of the wine’s name and the system will find it for you.

 

 

Prices noted are the prices I paid at the time of purchase.  I don’t shop around to find the best prices, but always check out the sale and close out items when in a store.  Wines purchased direct from a winery do not include any shipping charges.  None of the prices include the sales tax.

 

 

All wines that were sent to me free of charge to sample will be noted and I will show suggested prices when available.

 

 

 

Cheers!